A Look At Art From 1900 Depicting The 21st Century

They got a lot right

In the late 19th century, a series of artwork set out to show what the world would look like in the 21st century. It was a fanciful project that showed a modern world where people had mastered every facet of their existence. The art was largely done by French artist Jean-Marc Côté and plumbed the depths of imagination and science to create the images.

The images were created as advertisements and entertainment to be placed on sundries of the time such as cigar boxes. There were over 75 images drawn in total and they showed some truly unique ideas and displayed talented artistry.

Surprisingly, they got a lot right. But they also got quite a bit wrong. Here are the images that imaginative people came up with at the turn of the 19th century depicting life in the then distant 21st century.

Flying everything

The airplane wasn’t officially invented until 1903 but other flying machines had been in development for decades. It was clear to the people in the 1800s that humanity would soon take to the skies in ways they had not before. Obviously, the airplane would become the machine of the age and it transformed human society almost overnight.